The Sopranos: The Second Coming

(S06E19) After last week's big development with Christopher being offed by Tony Soprano, we were probably due for a letdown as far as developments go, but that was definitely not the case. Meadow decided that she felt like being part of the storyline for the first time in awhile, and we all knew that A.J.'s situation was bound to go one way or another, but how quickly might have come as a surprise.

When it comes to the drama classification, this show always makes the cut. But this week, for some reason, I felt like it meshed even more than usual with that genre with all that went on throughout the episode. When it all boils though, the family ties were what made this show so successful, and they're what keeps the drama flowing. Except for the fact that we've all got to wait two weeks to see how our Sopranos is going to get ready to close up shop, I think we're in for a quality run that everyone can get behind.

Stepping into A.J.'s situation, there had been some predictions made here and in the comments, including A.J. ultimately taking over the family, getting himself killed, or committing suicide. Looks like, at least for the moment, that the first option isn't going to be the case. He probably isn't going to be too much of a target for anyone to off him while he's in the hospital, but some part of me really does feel like he could ultimately kill himself, or try again, if he's left to his own. I've gotta say that the moment when Tony came back to the office and everyone was all quiet, it was funny to see him try and break the ice with the guys, and hearing them all try and relate - poorly, at that - was even better. Unfortunately, A.J.'s suicide attempt appears to be a big part of the undoing of the positives that Tony and Carm had been having in recent weeks, and even he mentioned it to Dr. Melfi.

Earlier this week, Lorraine Bracco was on the CBS Radio show that used to the "Imus in the Morning" program, and when she wasn't saying "you know" between phrases, she did say that we would "be surprised" by how things turn out with regard to her Dr. Melfi character. I really took that into consideration this week when she was sitting down with her own therapist, especially as she was hearing about how one study being done with sociopaths showed that they had a higher re-arrest rate than those who hadn't had any therapy at all. That would have been a very easy "out" for her when it comes to Tony, but I'm wondering if she's going to turn out to be a "fighter" when it comes to her patient after all.

Remember how we'd been talking about "bad old Tony" really coming out? That's definitely the case here, although in the world of Sopranos, perhaps the bashing in (out?) of Coco's teeth was perfectly justified as it was only caused by the man's harassment of Meadow. Seeing Tony walk into the restaurant had me reminiscing to a particular scene from the Godfather series that some of you might be familiar with, just without the pistol in the bathroom. Seeing Tony knock Coco's teeth out was one of the more violent things we'd seen in awhile. Following that up, however, with a loose tooth being caught in the cuff of Tony's suit, and you've got a fantastic set of circumstances that had me - disturbingly - laughing out loud. The look on Tony's face when he attempted to grab it from the cuff was great, and I'm not sure if it's worse that I got a kick out of it, or that Chase & Co. knew we would.

Phil Leotardo is definitely setting the stage for a grand finale, with or without the fireworks. Little Carmine doesn't appear to have anyone else on his side, sans Tony, and the previews are definitely showing Sil taking a stand with Tony and the crew. A lot of people had suggested in the comments in past weeks that Silvio would become the big man here, and I have a feeling that this will definitely come to be, but maybe not in the way we're guessing. I just can't see Tony taking Phil's 25% offer for the asbestos dumping, but a strike at the worksite hurts Tony, Carmine, and Phil, and only Tony is "responsible" for the situation. Is it at all possible that he could be undone as the boss of the Soprano crew by his own lieutenants?I'm going to give this week's episode a six on TV Squad's ratings scale of 1-7. I thought it worked Meadow back into the picture well, and her "we're Italian" speech to A.J. was more than fitting. Finally finding out who her "mystery" date was definitely interesting for all parties, and was great in driving the plot forward. A little bit of a spike was driven in between Tony and Carm, punctuated with the repeated throwing of her new watch that Tony brought back from Vegas. If he's going to be in trouble with his other "family," too, then perhaps this isn't the time for them to have marital issues. At the very least, I can see Tony ending up on the defensive, as foreshadowed by Phil's shunning of him at the doorstep right before the show's close. Any thoughts and predictions from all of you?

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42 Comments

I think Tony finds out from Paulie that his father is Uncle Junior. Junior and his mother had an affair which produced Tony. Also I believe that Uncle Junior is the rat all along--cooperating with New York to get rid of Tony and his crew and take the New Jersey Throne which was denied him.(By the way, that senility crap was great acting by Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior.) He deserves an Emmy!!! Uncle Junior will be the one to off Tony in the finale!

I THINK THE WHOLE SEASON AFTER TONY WAS SHOT HE WAS WORKING WITH THE FED GUY AS THEY FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT TERRIST AND THATIS WHY HE WAS WHACKED OUT ON ANYONE HE THOUGHT BETRAYED HIM AND IN THE END TONY AND THE FED FIND OUT OF AN ATTACK WITH NO TIME TO CALL HELP AND STOP THE ATTACK AND TONY HAS A NEW OUT LOOK FOR THE WORLD AND NOT JUST HIM. HE CANT DIE OR THE WHOLE SEREIS WAS A WASTE AND HE WAS THE ONE PLAYING 2 SIDES , YOU CANT END A NUMBER ONE SHOW THAT TOOK 8 YEARS TO FILM 6 . THERE OR TO MANY WAYS TO GO AND IT WOULD BE A WASTE TO JUST END IT IT. HE WILL TAKE OUT FILE OR EVEN WHEN THEY TALK ALL 3 TAKE OUT THE AL KADO AND THEY WILL HAVE 1 MORE SEASON TO GET IT TO GETHER OR ITS A WASTE . I THINK TONY JUST RE ACTS AND DOES THE RIGHT THINK WITH OUT THINKING AND CHASE WILL HAVE TO TO SEE WHAT THE RATINGS ARE.TONY WONT DIE OR WILL NEVER SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE PINE BARRYING WITH THE RUSIONS . ALSO JANET WILL GET IN AS LONG AS THAT WHIP KID. THEY NEED ROBORT DERNERO TO COME IN OR MANE MOB GUY TO END SHOW WITH TONY DOING WHAT HE WANTS AND SILVIO HAS THE FINAL SAY AND MEDOW JOINING IN . A SHOW LIKE THIS HAS TO TO END WITH A CLIF HANGER LIKE MEADOW AND JANICE AND WIFE GETTING INVOLED.YOU NEVERLEAVE A SHOW WITH OUT A TRAILER OR HE WAS STILL DREAMING FROM PIOIO. ALSO THE RUSSION AND TERRIST BEING INVOLED. I THINK THE RUSSION WILL BE BACK AND THAT MAYBE MALVY IS CONFRONTED AND KILLS PHIL .

I think the final episode has Tony pulling a Whitey Bulger and disappearing on his own. His life will be a shell of what it once was and he'll always be looking over his shoulder for either the Feds or Phil. Just a guess.

Gissell, Keith - I couldn't agree more!! That whole show where Toni was shot in the face looked surreal - he had his clothes on IN THE HOSPITAL BED after surgery? Come on! That entire episode reeked of David Lynch and his 'dreamstate' photography. They never showed Tony waking up - I thought then that the series may in fact have been a dream! Also, when they were showing the previews for this final season, Tony opens the backdoor of somewhere (The Bing?) and walks into blazing light. That struck me as metaphore for either dying, or waking from a dream. I think that fact that most of this series has been Tony's dream is more than plausible. Perhaps he's been in a coma all this time and will wake up and all will be well, or he'll go off into 'the snow'. Meadow's explanation of Frost's poem to AJ was setting the stage for something~

One, there is no way the show ends with Tony waking up, and it's all just a dream. David Chase is a writer of the tallest order and would not end the show with such a contrived and tired plot twist.

Two, I have been watching past seasons again, and I don't really see much going on in the background of scenes that ultimately hints at events to come. If anything, I think Sopranos always aims to make the background relevant, whether it's the meds commercial, the music playing, the books they are reading. I don't see how anyone can read too much into that stuff.

Three, I don't see a chance in hell that Tony ends up in witness protection. In fact, I still think the Feds have a hand to play in Tony's fate before it's all said and done. Twice this season Tony had to lam it because the Feds were closing in. I wonder what/who they will dig up next.

I think the drug commercial had nothing to do with its own message, and something to do with the assassination of Lincoln. Note the other reference to Lincoln when Carmela made Lincoln log sandwiches (gone uneaten by AJ, but Tony took a bite).

This episode also made reference to the Kennedies in the Grey Gardens reference. Another assassinated president. In the previous episode, the girl's name driving the car that swerved to miss Cristopher & Tony was named Kennedy, and then Tony referred to Christopher's wife as Jackie Onassis at the funeral.

About the sociopathy, Tony is definitely NOT a sociopath. While he displays some of the criteria, a sociopath cannot empathize with others at all and never feel guilt for anything they do. Tony does feel guilt at times, and does empathize with those he feels are innocent... such as the stripper Ralph killed, his horse, the children of those who end up dead. So he would definitely not meet the criteria of a sociopath, and Melfi would clearly understand this as a psychologist. Hopefully the show wont make the mistake of going in that direction and I dont think it will, since its always been accurate.

Freddy, my husband and I were thinking along the same lines regarding Meadow. However, my thought was that the fender-bender was intentional. A warning maybe. That they are actually going after Meadow (and possibly Patrick, too) as a way to best get Tony...

Very good episode. About the final ending, i dont think it will turn out to be a dream. When Tony was "dreaming" we only saw him, he could only dream about his actions. Since we see a lot of other stuff during the episodes i cant agree with the "dream" theory. I dont think anyone can recall dreaming without himself in it...My theory is that Tony will end up alone in the end, either by being in jail or by his family and friends being killed or maybe carmela will leave him (the least possible scenario)...I think if Tony died it would be too easy, he needs to deal with his actions consequences. When he'll be alone he'll have a lot of time to think about everything he has done, and that's a lot...I think something big is going to happen (i would bet on his family, or at leats 2/3 of his family, death) and then he'll have to deal with his conscience, not God of the Justice system will judge him, he'll do it himself...